Meet the Artist

In 2012, Laurel Holmes transitioned from the corporate environment to focus on art making and moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town in 2016. While she primarily works as a painter, specialising in oils, she is also an accomplished printmaker. Holmes earned an Honours degree in Fine Art from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 2021. Her work is featured in both international and local private collections, including the Spier Art Collection and the Works of Art Collection at the University of Cape Town.

Laurel Holmes has always been fascinated by the shapes, forms, and textures of nature—such as the strata within rock, desiccating plants creating shadows, the movement of water, and the intricate assembly of insects. The aesthetics of nature have always profoundly influenced her. In coastal landscapes, where the sea scours, encroaches, and flows onto the land, nothing remains fixed or completely solid, reflecting the metaphorical ebb and flow of life. Her practice serves as a means to find equilibrium within this ever-changing environment.

Holmes prefers to focus on a small, intriguing aspect of a place, often captured in a photograph. While she may use this photograph as an initial reference, she allows the work to evolve organically, striving to remain unattached to any predetermined outcome.

laurelholmes.com | @studio_laurelholmes